Readers Comment on the New Grit Magazine Format

— VIncent Salmon
Kingman, Arizona

Everyone likes Grit

I received my latest issue of Grit, and I like the changes. I love the way the magazine is put together, and so do all my friends to whom I pass the Grit. The only thing we didn’t like was the small print, although I realize you can get more in a magazine this way. I have good vision but I don’t like that fine print. My vision is 20/20 with glasses, and I turned 90 in March.

— Eulah Custer
Wirt, Minnesota

Editor’s Note: We’ve changed the typeface some in this issue and hope it’s easier to read. Thank you for the good words, and Happy 90th!

Great Grit Issue

I was surprised to see a redesigned Grit on the shelf of our local bookstore, so I bought it, and my husband and I are now reading it.

I remember Grit from the 1960s, when I was a teenager. Our neighbor received it, and I couldn’t wait for him to pass it on to us. I loved the poems and patterns, and I still have several of the poems I clipped and pasted into my scrapbook.

Please don’t change the new format too much. I’ve watched publications go from very interesting farm-rural-oriented content to more suburban fare that really didn’t interest me.

This September/October issue is great. Our driveway is almost a mile long, and it’s had real problems over the years. I’m hoping we can finally figure out how to stabilize it with your article (“Here’s the Dirt on Rural Roads”) and the related websites you offered.

We own a 135-acre farm in western Pennsylvania. We both grew up in farm families. We don’t farm full time, but we make hay and are slowly retiring from breeding and showing Morgan horses. It’s been a lot of work but very worthwhile, and it was a way to get away from our specialty machine shop.

I’m looking forward to some good reading. Thank you.

— Linda Reeger
Ford City, Pennsylvania

Good Work on Grit Magazine

I love the September/October issue of your new Grit. Keep up the good work.

I am retired, but I still cook, sew and crochet to keep busy (for myself and others).

— Neen Brasher
Kingsport, Tennessee

Enjoying the New Grit Format

I am enjoying Grit for the first time in 40 years. My sister sent me a subscription beginning June 2006. I congratulate you on your new innovations and bringing Grit into the 21st century.

I began my career at age 12 (1946-48) selling Grit for 7 cents in the small town of Wolf Creek. I ultimately was selling to 35 customers. I received special gifts when I increased the number of subscriptions.

I believe the entrepreneurial spirit I learned from selling Grit carried over into my career in medicine. Keep up the good work.

— Dr. C. Kenneth Peters
Louisville, Kentucky

Keep Rolling

You have made a great improvement in our magazine. I remember getting Grit when I was a little girl, and I am still enjoying it. I am 84 years young — we have come a long ways together.

The new cover is so attractive, and the inside takes me back to when I was a little girl. As a coach would say, “Keep the ball rolling.”

— Jewel Pritchard
Helena, Alabama

Easy to Love

I received my latest Grit yesterday. I really love it. It will be easy for me to hold. I am 86 years old. I read the Editor’s Note first and enjoyed it very much.

— Rachel Deal
Rhoadesville, Virginia

Uncertain

I have loved Grit for a number of years. I had lost track of it, then was happy to find it again. I don’t know if I’m going to enjoy the new Grit or not.

You seem to have done away with the department that I enjoy the most: Friends & Neighbors, the section where people ask others to help find people and things, and where they request pen pals.

I did see the Help Wanted section of Recipe Box on Page 70.

I just don’t get the warm feeling from the glossy magazine that I did with the newsprint format. Before I was eager to sit down and read the newspaper-style Grit. I sincerely hope I will come to look forward to receiving the magazine before my subscription runs out.

It’s hard for old dogs and people to learn new tricks, but I’m going to try.

— Maxine Bomar
St. Joseph, Missouri

Grit Carrier

In 1948, I was 8 years old, and I sold Grit back in Kentucky. I made enough money to buy a new bicycle. Grit is a wonderful magazine, and I love to read it.

— William May
Starke, Florida

Recipe Response

I enjoyed the new issue of Grit. Here in Maine we have alpaca and llama farms. They are so nice to see. I enjoyed the article on barn cats. When I was a youngster and spent my summers with my cousins on their farm, we had barn cats to keep the rodents in check.

I do miss Friends & Neighbors and also the letters to the editors. I am also glad that Recipe Box was kept.

All in all, though, the new Gritis enjoyable. The advertisement for Johnnie’s Seeds was good to see. The place is only about 10 minutes from where we live. I go by it at least once a month. They are in the old Crowe Rope Factory. We are thinking of checking out their bulbs for our fall planting.

— Sarah Vaughan
Waterville, Maine

Editor’s Note: As you’ll see in this issue, Friends & Neighbors is back. Thanks to each of you for your encouraging comments. As you can imagine, not everyone was happy with the changes and some gave us quite an earful about their opinions.

Unfortunately, the old format had not been profitable for many years, so the choice wasn’t between the old Grit and the new Grit, it was between this Grit and none. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy what we’re doing, and to let us know what rural-related stories you’d like to see.